Astronaut Scott Kelly's year in space

Scott Kelly

Astronaut Scott Kelly has spent nearly a full year in space -- the longest flight ever by an American. While floating up there beyond the heavens, he has sent back amazing images from his journey and collected extensive data, conducting research to prepare for a journey to Mars.

After a 340-day stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov of Roscosmos plan to undock their Soyuz from the space station at 8:02 p.m. EST and land in Kazakhstan at 11:25 p.m.

Here's a look back at Kelly's Year in Space, including some of the beautiful landscape photos and views of the planets Kelly has taken.

Onboard the ISS, the two traveled over 143,846, 525 million miles and in doing so orbited the Earth an incredible 5,400 times.

Credit: Bill Stafford/NASA

Year in Space

The Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft, is transported to a launch pad at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 25, 2015.

The spacecraft carried the International Space Station (ISS) crew of astronaut Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko to the ISS from Baikonur. Padalka returned to Earth on Sept. 12, 2015.

Credit: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Year in Space

A Russian Orthodox priest blesses the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft at the launch pad of the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome on March 26, 2015.

Year in Space

Kelly (L) and Kornienko wave from a bus after their spacesuits were tested at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome late on March 27, 2015.

Credit: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Year in Space

The Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft carrying the ISS crew blasts off from the launch pad at Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome early on March 28, 2015.

Credit: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Year in Space

A view of the glass bottom spaceship over the Bahamas and Kelly's feet, Dec. 26, 2015. Traveling in the ISS 250 miles above the Earth at 17,500 mph. It gives him a unique perspective on our world.

As he explains on Tumblr, the images provide researchers with key data and photography is a great hobby, that creates some semblance of work and life balance. Using a Nikon D4 camera, Kelly tweeted 1,000 photos from the ISS. In that time, he amassed 929,000 Twitter followers and 882,000 Instagram fans.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

An entrancing aurora display over the Pacific Northwest.

Towards the end of Oct. 2015, Scott Kelly broke the world record for the longest continuous spaceflight by an American. He was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2015 by Time Magazine.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

Scott Kelly took this photo on Aug. 22, 2015 comparing the landscape to Michelangelo's famous fresco.

Space lettuce

Year in Space

Scott Kelly saw this scene of the western edge of the Sahara desert with Mauritania in Northwest Africa at the center.

There's a giant quartzite circle called Richat Structure, approximately 24 miles across. This volcanic bulge that never erupted and was leveled by erosion makes for interesting art.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

ISS crew watching "The Martian" Sept 19, 2015, which Kelly loved.

Long exposure to a zero-gravity environment can affect the human body in multiple ways. Some physical symptoms can include changes to the eyes, muscle atrophy and bone loss. Human psychology is also an important area of study, as the effects of living in isolated and small spaces will be important to understand ahead of future human missions to Mars. Research collected from the one-year mission can help NASA and the international partners reduce risks and better understand how to ensure astronauts will thrive on longer missions.

Credit: NASA

Year in Space

Kelly posted this photo to Twitter to mark the midway point of his Year in Space.

He said that internet speeds on the ISS were akin to dial-up... "if one could remember what dial-up was."

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

Day 207 - Dusk over the Indian Ocean with a yellow band on the horizon, Oct. 20, 2015.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

Thanksgiving dinner with retired astronaut Mark Kelly and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords (L) on Earth. Mark Kelly asked his brother Scott what he was eating in space and Scott responded with the photo at right showing "brown in a bag," Nov. 26, 2015.

The Twins Study is a unique opportunity to study the identical twins Scott and Mark Kelly, while Scott spends a year aboard the International Space Station and Mark, a former shuttle commander, remains on Earth.

Credit: Scott Kelly, Mark Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

The depths of Bahamas blues, Jan. 19, 2016. Kelly said his favorite thing to look at from the ISS is the technicolor blue waters around the Bahamas.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

A night scene of Beijing taken from the ISS on Dec. 2, 2015.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Twins Study

Kelly gives himself a flu shot for an ongoing study on the human immune system. The vaccination is part of NASA's Twins Study.

Credit: NASA

Year in Space

Scott Kelly gave us this abstract vision of the launch of Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft from Florida's Cape Canaveral at sunset on its way to the ISS on Dec. 6, 2015.

Year in Space

Year in Space

Kelly and Flight Engineer Tim Kopra prepared the ISS's for the docking of a Russian cargo supply spacecraft.

The spacewalk was the third for Kelly.

Credit: NASA

Year in Space

First flower to blossom in space, an orange zinnia, is shown off on Jan. 17, 2016. The flower was the result of an experiment that began Nov. 16, 2015

Kelly wrote, "Yes, there are other life forms in space!"

The experiment, which began Nov. 16, 2015, was one more than 400 onboard the ISS.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Blizzard seen from space

On January 25, 2016, Scott Kelly created his first Tumblr post, Chasing Storms, inspired by this photo of two low-pressure systems merged into a potent nor'easter that dropped heavy snow from Virginia to New England taken Oct. 25, 2015 (#Blizzard2016).

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

With what amounted to water ping pong, Kelly celebrated his 300th day in space showing off the space station's microgravity environment playing with hyrophobic (water repellant) paddles, microgravity and a water droplet.

Kelly explained on Reddit that astronauts often cross their arms in space because otherwise they would float in front of them all the time, rather than hanging by your side the way they would on Earth.

Credit: NASA/YouTube

Year In Space

Scott Kelly experienced multiple sunrises and sunsets each day. On Dec. 8, 2015, he showed off this photo stating it was of one of 16 sunrises he would see that day. The crew has experienced 10,944 sunrises and sunsets -- 16 of both each day.

According to NASA, the ISS travels at a speed of 5 miles per second and orbits the Earth ever 90 minutes.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

Day 324: Scott Kelly captured this awe-inspiring view of the polar vortex on Feb. 14, 2016.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

A frozen lake in the Himalayas, Jan. 9, 2016.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

Big rip currents off the coast of Mozambique on Nov. 19, 2015.

Kelly has created an incredible archive of abstract views of Earth with a very consistent photographic style.

Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

Year in Space

On Feb. 2016, Kelly shared a video of the bizarre scene of a gorilla in space chasing after British astronaut Tim Peake. The gorilla suit was a gift to Kelley from his twin brother Mark, part of a personal care package of cargo allowed onto the ISS.

Scott Kelly wrote on Twitter, "Needed a little humor to lighten up a #YearInSpace," adding "Go big, or go home. I think I'll do both," as he prepared to return to Earth.

Year in Space

Year in Space

Last sunrise

Kelly took this photo of his last sunrise from space before his return to Earth, March 1, 2016.

Upon his return, he will have spent a total of 520 days in space across four space missions.

The astronaut has participated in a variety of research that will help scientists better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to long-duration spaceflight. That knowledge will play a critical role in future NASA missions deeper into the solar system and on the Journey to Mars, in which a round-trip mission is likely to last 500 days or longer.

Scott Kelly

Kelly leaves the space station to return to Earth, March 1, 106. He tweeted, "The journey isn't over. Follow me as I rediscover #Earth!"

Credit: NASA

Scott Kelly

Ground personnel carry International Space Station crew member Scott Kelly after his landing near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on March 2, 2016.

Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko returned to Earth on March 2 after spending almost a year in space in a ground-breaking experiment. Russian astronaut Sergey Volkov, who spent a shorter period of time on the ISS, returned with Kelly and Kornienko.